Archives for July 2022

In Memoriam: Laura Menides

by

It is with great sadness that the Worcester County Poetry Association has learned of the loss of one of its iconic members, Laura Jehn Menides, scholar, poet, and past president of the WCPA. She initiated over a quarter of a century many of the programs that cemented the WCPA’s legacy as a major cultural institution in Central Massachusetts.

 

 

She was active in the Elizabeth Bishop Society and was instrumental in a number of conferences which featured Bishop scholars from all over the world, such as Thomas Travisano, who visited Worcester and provided insights into Bishop’s work. Laura Menides was the spark that began the listing of homes and locations important to nationally known Worcester poets like Frank O’Hara, whose home is now listed as a literary landmark. Her many years as an English professor at WPI provided the basis for collaborations which helped the WCPA bring poets like Stanley Kunitz back to the city for readings.

The WCPA would not be where it is today without her tireless, voluntary efforts to promote poetry in Central Massachusetts.

 

New Vintage Worcester Anthology

by

 

Featuring the work of 80s Worcester poets  in the NOH Place Artists’ Cooperative of Worcester. The anthology includes poems from seventeen poets and is edited by AJ Juarez, Julie Murkette & Stephen Campiglio.

 

The anthology was produced by Lost Valley Press, an Imprint of Satya House Publications. It is available for pre-order on Bookshop.org or ask your local bookseller if they can get you a copy. Also available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Check it out. Give it. Savor it. Donate it. Collect a piece of Worcester literary history.

 

Learn more about the NOH Place Artists Collective in this archive article from 2020 in Worcester Magazine. Additional information here, and here.

STANELY KUNITZ MEDAL CEREMONY

by

 

Come join the Worcester County Poetry Association as they award the 8 th Stanley Kunitz Medal to poet Tony Brown. The honor originated with a bequest to the WCPA from the estate of
celebrated poet Stanley Kunitz (1905-2006). Tony Brown is a remarkable and gifted poet who
has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to poetry, thereby emulating the spirit and energy of
Worcester native, Stanley Kunitz.

WHEN: Thursday, July 28 th from 6:30-8:30 PM
WHERE: Worcester Historical Museum, 30 Elm Street, Worcester, MA

 

 

 

PLEASE NOTE: Please check the museum’s website for masking requirements. There is limited
parking behind the museum, with additional on-street parking and in the Pearl/Elm Street
Garage.

Announcing the Winners of the 2022 WCPA Poetry Contest: The Frank O’Hara Prize

by


Jennifer Freed of Holden, Massachusetts, has won the 2022 Frank O’Hara Prize. The O’Hara Prize, awarded annually by the Worcester County Poetry Association (WCPA), was established in 1973. Freed’s poem “Kangaroos in Kharkiv” was selected by contest judge Usman Hameedi from the 89 submissions by 34 entrants.

Jennifer L. Freed is the author of When Light Shifts (Kelsay, 2022), a memoir-in-poems about the aftermath of her mother’s cerebral hemorrhage, and of a chapbook, These Hands Still Holding, a finalist in the 2013 New Women’s Voices Competition (Finishing Line Press, 2014).  She was awarded the 2020 Samuel Washington Allen Prize for a long poem or poem-sequence (New England Poetry Club), has been a finalist for the Frank O’Hara prize multiple times and has received nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Orison Anthology.  She leads adult education programs online and in-person, and lives in Holden, Massachusetts.

Four additional winners were selected by Usman Hameedi.

Second Place – Lis Beasley of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, for “The Father as a Magician”

Third Place – Cheryl Bonin of Sutton, Massachusetts, for “Burnt”
Honorable Mention – Glenn D’Alessio of West Brookfield, Massachusetts, for “A Lobotomy”

Honorable Mention – Dennis Rhodes of Naples, Florida, for “Question”

The winning poems will be published in the next edition of The Worcester Review, the nationally recognized journal of the WCPA. The winners also receive a cash award. The WCPA will invite all the winners to read their work at the Winners’ Ceremony and Reading on Sunday, September 25, 2022, at 3:00 p.m.

The Winners’ Reading will be held at the First Unitarian Church, 90 Main Street, Worcester. Contest judge Usman Hameedi will be our featured reader that afternoon.

Usman Hameedi is a Pakistani-American scientist, poet, and educator. He also serves on Mass Poetry’s Board of Directors.   He earned his MS in Biomedical Sciences from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.  During his graduate studies, he did additional work in medical humanities and volunteered in geriatric care at Mount Sinai Hospital.  Neuroscience and oncology are his primary areas of scientific interest and expertise.  Since 2008, he has competed in and coached for collegiate, national, and international level poetry slams.  He was featured on The Huffington Post, Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine, and The Story Collider: Storytelling for Scientists podcast.  His first full-length collection is forthcoming in 2023 and will be published by Button Poetry.

The poetry contest was renamed the Frank O’Hara Prize in 2009 and continues to be generously supported as a tribute to the late poet Frank O’Hara by the O’Hara family.